Javelin thrower Sandeep Chaudhary created a new world record to clinch India’s first gold medal at the Para Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta. Chaudhary claimed the top spot with a best throw of 60.01m, which he managed in his third attempt. He shattered the F44 world record of 59.82 made by Mingjie Gao of China in 1980. Chaudhary’s disability falls in the F42-44/61-64 category, which relates to limb deficiency, leg length difference, impaired muscle power or impaired range of movement.
In the women’s T11 1500m race, Raju Rakshitha clocked 5:40.64 seconds to clinch the gold. Her disability falls in T11 category which relates to very low visual acuity and/or no light perception.
Para swimmer Suhas Yadav clinched the third gold for India when he emerged winner in Men’s 50M Butterfly S7 (6-7). Earlier Suhas also won two bronze medal- one in Men’s 200M Individual Medley SM7 and the other in Men’s 50M Freestyle S7 .
India’s six silver medals came in different disciplines. Farman Basha who won silver in Men’s 49 kg Powerliftng on the first day of the Games, was joined by Shakina Khatun who won silver in Women’s 50kg. Shakina won a bronze in 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Another silver medal came in Para Swimming when Devanshi Satija won it in Women’s 100M Butterfly S10.She also won a bronze in Women’s 100M Freestyle S10.
Para-athletics gave two more silver also with Ramya Shanmugam and Radha Venkatesh finishing second in women’s F46 javelin throw and women’s T12/13 1500m race respectively. In Shooting Manish Narwal won a silver medal in P4 – Mixed 50M Free Pistol – SH1.
2016 Rio Paralympics silver medallist Deepa Malik settled for a bronze in women’s F 53/54 javelin throw with an effort of 10.15m. Para shooter Singhraj won a bronze in P4 – Mixed 50M Free Pistol – SH1. In Swimming, Swapnil Patil won bronze in Men’s 100M Freestyle S10 – Men.
Indian Men’s Badminton team lost a close contest to Malaysia 1-2 in the semifinals and won a bronze in team event. Suhas Yathiraj won the first singles match after he thrashed Omar Bakri 21-8, 21-7. However, the Indian doubles pair comprising Raj Kumar and Tarun was outclassed 9-21, 8-21 by Cheah Honn and Saaba Hainul. In the third singles, Chirag Baratha lost 14-32, 15-21 to Mohammad Ahmad as India lost 1-2.
India now has a total of 17 medals in the tally.
